The Birth of a City: Millennial-Scale Spatial Organization in the Iron Age Hillfort of Nadin-Gradina, Northern Dalmatia (Croatia)

Systematic archaeological excavations of Iron Age settlements in the region of northern Dalmatia, and indeed in the eastern Adriatic more broadly, are extremely rare given the large investment of time, energy, and financial support required to adequately carry out the work. Consequently, understanding the spatial organization of these settlements, or their relationships to one another on a regional scale, often relies on data generated by smaller programs of archaeological testing or surface observations. From 2015 to 2020, the University of Zadar and the University of Maine carried out a collaborative and systematic program of archaeological research at the site of Nadin-Gradina, one of the largest and most distinctive Liburnian Iron Age and Roman settlements in Dalmatia (Croatia). Over the course of the project, the overall area targeted for excavation constituted less than one percent of the total area of the hillfort, but its rich archaeological stratigraphy extended nearly five meters in depth. Despite the relatively small area of excavation, the results offer unique insight into a portion of the planimetry of the settlement over the course of about 1,500 years, clearly demonstrating the influence of the Iron Age architectural plan on that of the subsequent Roman settlement.